It is about twice the size, half the cost and planned and built in almost a third of the time. When Beijing's new airport terminal opens in February, comparisons with Heathrow's Terminal 5 will be inevitable and not entirely flattering to London.

The Chinese capital's new gateway to the skies was given its first international airing today after a three-and-a-half-year sprint to construct the world's biggest airport complex for next year's Olympics.

With 245 acres (99 hectares) of floor space, Terminal 3 of Capital Airport is bigger than all five Heathrow terminals combined. Once it comes into operation, Beijing expects to strengthen its position as a transport hub. With 66 million passengers forecast next year, it will jump from the ninth to third busiest airport.

Airport managers estimate the building costs of the Norman Foster-designed terminal at 21bn yuan (£1.6bn), compared with the £3.5bn price tag of its equivalent designed by Richard Rogers in London.

The main building is reminiscent of Lord Foster's other airports, though even more spectacular. It has the same light and airy glass wall entrance and high ceiling as Stansted and Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok. The double-skinned aluminium canopy -silver slats under a russet roof - shimmer for half a mile.

Airport authorities reportedly asked Lord Foster to incorporate the bright tones found in the Forbidden City. They are evident in the tapering red pillars and the brown-gold roof shaped like the back of a dragon.

But the darker colours - and cost-cutting that reduced the number of skylights - make parts of the interior gloomier than usual for Lord Foster.

Guides reel off statistics on an epic Chinese scale. The three buildings of Terminal 3 are home to 445 lifts, 1,800 miles of cables and a car park for 7,000 vehicles. There is a road network and a light railway under construction which ends at a terminus shaped like a giant glass turtle. At its peak the workforce numbered 50,000.

The pace of construction is unimaginable in most other countries. Building work started on August 7 2004 and is expected to be finished by the end of this year. The public consultation alone on Heathrow's Terminal 5 took longer.

Why so quick? Jeff Martin, deputy project manager for Siemens, one of the main contractors, said it was simple: "There is so much available labour. If I say we need 500 extra workers tomorrow, then I will get them. In the US, you would have to go through unions and it would take much, much longer."

Mr Martin said construction was on track for a February opening. The buildings are completed and fitting-out the interior is proceeding rapidly. The workforce has been trimmed to 8,000 and trials began this week on the state-of-the-art baggage handling system. Its designers boast that its 20-mile network of conveyor belts can handle 20,000 bags per hour and shift suitcases at a speed of 10 metres per second, more than double the rate at Heathrow.

Another reason for the speed of construction is the power of the authorities to relocate residents. Managers say 10,000 people have been resettled. A promotional video boasts that there have been no appeals over land acquisition, although the Guardian has learned that those who tried to protest could not file official complaints.

One family who lived in Gangshan village say they were cheated into signing a deal for low compensation.

"Whenever I think about it, I feel bitter and full of pain," said the daughter, a teacher who gave only her English name, Cindy. "With the compensation they gave, we can only afford one apartment that I have to share with my parents, my brother and his wife. It is as though we have gone from rich to poor overnight." However, the airport's general manager, Zhang Zhizhong, said the resettlement had been well received.

Even with the mass resettlement and the huge new terminal, Beijing does not believe it has enough capacity. A working group is now searching for a second site.

In numbers

50,000 Number of workers employed at the site during peak construction

445 The number of passenger lifts to be fitted at the new Terminal 3 building

1,800 The number of miles of electric cabling throughout the site

20,000 The number of suitcases and bags that can be processed each hour